Riding style
Riding refers to a particular style, horses to ride and train. There are several styles of riding that come from different areas and cultures. Today, a rider chooses the components from several riding styles that suit him and his horse most.
English riding style
English riding style , also known as classic English riding style, is a collective term for dressage , show jumping , eventing , racing , hunting and various other equestrian sports such as polo. The term 'English riding style' is mainly used by fans of other riding styles to distinguish them.
Characteristic is the leaning , the constant contact over the reins with the horse's mouth, as well as the adjacent, breathing thigh and the influence of weight aids. The training of the horse over the years according to the six-step training scale is regarded as elementary, which initially deals with tact, ease, leaning, swing and straightening the horse and only in the advanced stage of dressage training with the assembly.
The preferred horse breeds are warm-blooded animals with three extensive gaits , small horses and ponies . The flat English saddle and a bridle with various forms of bridle , pelhams or curbs with noseband and noseband are used as items of equipment . For lunging are Cavessons common.
Western riding style
Western riding is the riding style of the American cowboys that has been further developed into a sporting discipline. As a working style of riding, it is designed so that horse and rider can travel all day at a slower pace, saving effort, and shows no noticeable increases in the horse's natural gaits . In various disciplines of western riding , different aspects of everyday cowboy life are made measurable, such as working on cattle (with or without the help of a live cattle) or overcoming terrain obstacles (without jumping).
Trained western horses are ridden with one hand with constantly sagging reins. The rein is used as a pressure rein, that is, the rein placed on the side of the horse's neck "pushes" the horse in the opposite direction. Help is given as short impulses. The horse learns through operant conditioning to carry out these commands without further admonition until a new command replaces the old one. The horse's posture is relaxed with the head carried at bow joint height . The rider's seat is also loose and all gaits are sat out. Typical are the movements of the horses when stopping, stopping suddenly from full gallop, spins, rapid 360 ° turns ( reining ) and working with live cattle ( cutting ).
The western saddle is heavier than the English saddle. He distributes the weight over a large area on the horse's back. For some riders, the saddle is very comfortable with its deep seat and wide stirrups . The western bridle is used without a noseband. A curb bridle ( bit ) is used on trained western horses . For young horses there are thin water Bridles ( snaffle ) of rusting and therefore thought-chewing iron and bitless bridles as the Bosal .
Classic riding style
The classic riding style, also called baroque or courtly riding style, describes various interpretations of the riding instructions and illustrations of riding masters from the 17th to 19th centuries by modern riding instructors . The teachings go back to the practical riding of the cavalry warriors in the late Middle Ages (e.g. 1480 "Parchamenthandschrift zu Wolfegg" / "The medieval house book".) And Renaissance (e.g. 1605 "Le maneige royal". Antoine de Pluvinel ) and the The resulting courtly art of horsemanship , the height and decline of which fell at the time of the publication of the Ecole de cavallerie by the French riding master Guérinière . The latter is now considered the common basis for all dressage riding styles worldwide. Then the riding changed fundamentally with the favored horse type. Some of today's classical / baroque / court riding instructors also include riding masters and book authors of the following century (and more) in their interpretation (e.g. 1842 "Méthode d'équitation basée sur de nouveaux principes" by François Baucher ).
What the various implementations of classical, baroque or courtly riding have in common is the high degree of assembly of the horses with an emphasis on lightness and elegance and different similarities with old copperplate engravings, which show the rider in a balanced seat with one-handed reins, the horse with the neck at the highest point and in strong assembly. In addition to the schools still practiced today, such as piaffe , passage and side walks, special lessons are in particular the galloping artificial gaits (frolicking, Terre à Terre , Mezair , Courbett ) and the schools above the ground .
Some modern riding instructors also developed replicas of historical riding saddles (e.g. Bent Branderup saddle, Bückeburger school saddle), but the Portuguese "Portuguesa" saddle largely corresponds to the historical models. The trained horse carries a curb with (19th century) or without (to 18th centuries) flat washer snaffle . Various cavesson variants are also used in the training of the horse . Particularly suitable for this style are the breeds bred for this riding style such as Berbers , Andalusians , Lusitanos , Lipizzaner and Knabstrupper , Frederiksborger . Other baroque horses such as Frisians , small warmblood horses and other short-backed horses with attached necks, short backs and sloping croup are also used.
Iberian riding style
The Iberian riding style is a very old riding style from the Iberian Peninsula, which arose from the demands of knights and fighters on horseback and places great emphasis on agility and special lessons such as the school jumps, which were useful in combat. Characteristic for the Iberian style of riding are the high degree of assembly of the horse and the emphasis on maneuverability and sprint speed.
In the Iberian riding style, the rider sits deep in the saddle, the rein is guided with one hand, but in light contact with the horse's mouth. The horse should show the greatest obedience and willingness.
Iberian saddles have high galleries and are often richly decorated. The trained horse traditionally wears a curb without a bridle. Various cavesson variants are used in the training of the horse , including the controversial Serreta , a sometimes sharp-toothed nasal iron that leaves permanent scars on the horse's nose if it is misused.
Particularly suitable for this style are compact horses with short, strong backs that are naturally more suited to agility than speed. In addition to the breeds bred for this riding style such as Andalusians , Lusitanos , Hispano-Arabs and Tres Sangres ("three- blooded "), this applies to many other breeds such as Arabs , compact warm-blooded animals and original pony breeds .
Guard riding
Gardianreitweise is the riding style of the cattle herders from the Camargue . As is customary in working styles, one-handed riding is done with a curb or cavesson. The training makes the horses quick to react and agile. The Camargue saddle has very high cusps and is similar to the medieval tournament saddle. The horses are equipped with a standing martingale . The typical Camargue cavesson consists of a bicycle chain and is therefore extremely sharp.
Gaited horse riding
Gaited horses are horses that show more than just the basic gaits of walk , trot and gallop. These include the tölt , pass , paso, foxtrot , marcha , walk , rack and slow gait . Therefore gaited horse riding is actually not a separate riding style, because gaited horses are ridden just like three-gaited horses. American gaited horses are ridden in the western style or in a slightly modified English style. The English riding style predominates among the European breeds, while the South American gaited horses are presented in a modified Iberian riding style. In Icelandic horse riding, a saddle is often chosen that puts the rider's weight further back than a normal all-purpose or dressage saddle.
Easy riding style
Easy riding is a method that Ursula Bruns developed for recreational riders. It contains elements from western and other riding styles and is particularly suitable for relaxed cross-country rides. The training system for this riding style makes learning easier, especially for adult or fearful beginners.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Regulations for Western Equestrian Sport (PDF; 3.7 MB), EWU , 2011/2012 edition, § 307 number 1
literature
- Marcus Junkelmann : The riders of Rome, vol. 3: accessories, riding style, armament (cultural history of the ancient world; vol. 53). 4th edition. Verlag von Zabern, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-8053-1288-2 .
- Peter Pfister: Ranch riding. An old riding style - rediscovered. 2nd edition Verlag Müller Rüschlikon, Cham 2002, ISBN 3-275-01404-8 .
- Sylvia Loch: dressage. The art of classical riding (Dressage, 1990). Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-440-11016-4 .
- Otto Baron Digeon von Monteton : About the art of riding. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim 1995, ISBN 3-487-08346-9 (unchanged. Reprint of “Anglomanie und Reitkunst” 1877 and “Reiter Sermons. Cause and Effect” 1879).
- Daphne Machin Goodall: World history of the horse (A history of horse breeding, 1977). Nymphenburger Verlag, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-485-01784-1 .